For our second online exhibition this summer, David Nolan Gallery is pleased to present The System of Objects, a selection of works that focuses on objects, their depiction, and their implicit meaning. 

In Jean Baudrillard’s seminal The System of Objects (1968) the author classifies everyday objects as “functional, nonfunctional, and meta-functional.” Within those categories, Baudrillard explores the semiotics of materialism and critiques the commodification of everyday life. He positions that commodities are not merely characterized by their use-and-exchange-value (e.g. Marx), but also their “sign-value,” i.e. their style, prestige, power, etc. For Baudrillard, a society organized around consumption and the value expression of commodities will inevitably lead to a condition of “total alienation.” 

The selection of works in this exhibition aims to blur the boundaries between objects and their (mis)use. What gives each work meaning is often borne out of the space between the object and its (mis)perceived function.  From the modified utilitarian object (Artschwager’s Mirror; Kippenberger’s Schreber) to the inherently “useless” yet familiar forms (Gall; Kendrick; Le Va) to the once functional object rendered useless (Hatoum; Turk). They owe much to Duchamp’s assisted and rectified ready-mades, for their spirit of openness and communication, and for their disruption of the everyday banality of consumption. 

Rather than focusing on objects for their mere formal or fetishistic qualities, the works gathered here reflect an open-ended approach to representation, i.e. object as presence, as facsimile; as stand-in, et al. While some objects retain their inherent qualities, others inevitably depend on outside stimuli for their meaning. And in turn the system of objects, with its signs and qualifiers, forms the meaning of everyday life. 

This online exhibition features artworks by Richard Artschwager, Ian Hamilton Finlay, Neil Gall, Victoria Gitman, Mona Hatoum, Martin Kippenberger, Mel Kendrick, Barry Le Va, Adam McEwen, Jonathan Meese, Ciprian Mureșan, Al Taylor, Gavin Turk, and Jorinde Voigt.